Curse of Bob Short
Curse of Bob Short is a curse that allegedly prevents the baseball team from winning the championship since the team was relocated from Washington, D.C. Origin of the curse The Texas Rangers started their franchise as the in 1961. During the 11 years in Washington, the team did not go into the playoffs and had only one winning season. took over as team owner and GM in 1968. The financial issues of the team forced Short to trade away his good players, glooming the fanbase and threatening the future in D.C. He would not renew the stadium as he couldn't find the buyer after ultimatum was reached. By a 10 to 2 vote, the Senators would be relocated to Texas, upsetting the fans in Washington, D.C. area. In their last Senators' home game in 1971 against the New York Yankees, the fans got into the ballpark without paying the tickets and put up the banner that said "SHORT STINKS!". In the 9th inning and two outs with Senators leading 7-5, the deranged fans ran onto the field, stealing souvenirs, including the first base bag. As a result of this, the game was forfeited to the Yankees. The forfeit upsetted those fans even more, putting the curse on the relocating team, ensuring that they'll never win a world championship away from Washington D.C., at least until they get another franchise in Washington and win their championship first. Playoff appearances during the curse The team would not make their first playoffs in Texas until 1996. In the three playoff appearances in the mid to late-90s, all against the Yankees, they have won only one playoff game. The Rangers would finally go deep into the playoffs in 2010, where they won the pennant and lost the in five games to the San Francisco Giants, who ended their . One year later, they again won the pennant and appeared in the Fall Classic against the St. Louis Cardinals. In Game 6 of that World Series, the Rangers were one strike away from winning the championship with Cardinals having runners on 1st and 2nd and David Freese at-bat. Then Freese hit a game-tying two-run triple, whom the right fielder Nelson Cruz just missed making a leaping catch. Then the Rangers scored two go-ahead runs in the tenth inning, but the two-run lead was again erased by the Cardinals when Lance Berkman hit a game-tying single with again one strike away from winning it for Texas. Then in the bottom of the eleventh inning, David Freese, who hit a game-tying two-run triple in the ninth, hit a walk-off home run, forcing a Game 7. The Rangers would lose in a not so classic Game 7, ending their hope with a flyout. Game 6 of the 2011 World Series would allegedly be the most infamous Curse of Bob Short incident. End of the curse The curse is predicted to end with their first world championship in Texas in 2039 when they win the World Series in six games over the Colorado Rockies. This would occur three years after the Washington Nationals win the first championship based in Washington since the Senators moved to Texas, consistent with the instruction given by the curse mentioned above. Category:Articles Category:Major League Baseball